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Never Follow a Friend on a Trail Bike Into the Woods

 A R1200GS, F800GS and KTM 690 try to keep up with a 350cc trail bike.

Published on 02.25.2014

Negotiating a log like this on a 500 pound Adventure Bike takes a lot of skill.

Motorcycle Adventure Dirtbike TV is one of our favorite YouTube Channels. The show is produced by a group of middle-aged friends from Sydney Australia with a love of Adventure Riding. The guys at Motorcycle Adventure Dirtbike TV enjoy testing their Adventure Bikes in the dirt and put their impressive riding skills on display in the videos they post.

In their most recent video, a friend riding a KTM Freeride 350 leads the group on what he calls an “Easy Trail.” They try to follow the little 220 pound (100 kg) trail bike on a BMW R1200GS Adventure, F800GS Adventure and KTM 690 Enduro with a Rally Raid kit. Their “friend” on the Freeride 350 quickly disappears into the woods as the trail turns out to be not so easy.

For the rest of the day the big Adventure Bikes struggle through logs, tight single track, technical hill climbs and tight squeezes. These are trails most people would never take a large adventure bike through, but the guys at Motorcycle Adventure Dirtbike TV are skilled riders and appear to enjoy the challenge. At one point the horizontally opposed cylinder heads of the R1200GS get wedged in-between a rock and a tree. The guys exhaust themselves lifting and squeezing the bike through the gap, as riders on trail bikes zoom past.

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It is insightful to see in the video how each of the various sized bikes (1200, 800 and 690) performs on the same section of trail. The video demonstrates how easy an obstacle can be cleared on a KTM 690 Enduro compared to a BMW R1200GS. It becomes obvious when you watch the video, how hard it is to negotiate technical trails on a R1200GS with its considerable weight.

The bikes make it home in the end, although with a smokey clutch, a dented rim and a few more scratches. Nonetheless, the guys declare it a “great day of riding.”

For more videos from Motorcycle Adventure Dirtbike TV check out their YouTube Page.

Rob Dabney started a lifelong obsession with motorcycles at the age of 15 when he purchased his first bike – a 1982 Honda MB5. Through his 20’s and 30’s he competed in off-road desert races, including the Baja 250, 500 and 1000. Eventually, his proclivity for exploration led him to dual sport and adventure riding. Rob’s never-ending quest to discover what’s around the next bend has taken him on Adventures in Mexico, North Africa, Europe, and throughout the American West. As a moto journalist, he enjoys inspiring others to seek adventure across horizons both near and far.